YAIOOT (Yet another I ordered one thread) and Introduction

Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
Just jumping in on the Macro controller. Ordered yesterday after a very positive and prompt email reply from Viking's support staff on initial questions I had. As I said in my response email, this kind of rapid reply and accurate details bodes well for a company responding to a first contact situation.

Looking forward to pushing the start button for the first time.

Thought I would introduce myself as well. I am an over 50 old fart gamer who's been gaming since TRS-80s were new :) Been programming since then and continue today writing eCommerce applications and backend content management systems for web sites over the past 12+ years. Looking forward to checking out the software and macro controller. Looks pretty easy to build up complex macros and am really digging the timeline process. Reminds me of Adobe Premiere style video editing. I think the programmer in me will do well here.

Games I enjoy..
All the TES (The Elder Scrolls) series since Daggerfall (Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim of late)
Assassin's Creed (all but the last, AC3)
Bioshock Series
Fallout Series
L.A. Noir
Portal
Fable (2 and 3, 1 sucked)
Fear 2
Civilization Revolut'n
Some of the Final Fantasy series
Bad Company

I also enjoy some of the non-mainstream games like..
Torchlight
Keflings series (A Kingdom for Keflings, A World of Keflings)
From Dust
Minecraft

Games I disliked...
COD/MW. Most of them.
Gears of War 2.
Halo, all but the first on the original Xbox
Left4Dead (control organization sucked)

On the PC I got into (a few of the hundreds I have played)...
Ultima series (old floppy games)
Diablo 1 and 2 (disliked 3)
Warcraft 1,2 and 3
All the Command and Conquer and Red Alert series (old school games here from Westwood, RIP)
Wolfenstein (the original, not the crap remake)
Doom series (yes, I played them from floppy)
Quake series
Tribes and Tribes II
Flight sims (Apache, Hind, A10, F15 Eagle, etc)
Sub Commander

MMOs..
Earth and Beyond (was in alpha and beta and played through sunset)
Eve (was in beta)
Everquest
Guild Wars (was in beta)
World of Warcraft (started with BC)
I don't do much MMO any more, got tired of the money bleed and grinding. GW once in a while still but not often.

As you can see, I tend to like games with a plot and good story line. Love open world, hate myopically designed narrowly confined games. Like innovative and different, getting tired of zombie everything fad.

Hopefully Viking will get my Macro out the door soon so I can get some play time on it.
 
BraveTitan

BraveTitan

New Member
Welcome to our community Wolf! I don't know if you've taken a look yet as well but you should be able to get into the Macro Library and check out whats already been done. (http://library.viking360.com)

I've seen Macros for almost every game. Everything from simple boosting macros for Fallout/ElderScrolls/Etc. to the complex. A great thing about the macro controller is that you are able to change what every button does! I only say this because you didn't enjoy the Left4Dead layout as you stated. With the Viking Macro controller every button can be remapped to something different offering hundreds of combinations.

The community and staff here are extremely dedicated. Almost anyone will be willing to help you out if you encounter any sort of problems or want to do a little bit a cooperative macro building. Hope you enjoy your controller!
 
Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
BraveTitan said:
Welcome to our community Wolf! I don't know if you've taken a look yet as well but you should be able to get into the Macro Library and check out whats already been done. (http://library.viking360.com)
Click to expand...
Yes I had already found it. I tend to research the heck out of purchases over a hundred bucks. I already visited the library to see what has been done to get a grip on what can be done with the controller. Similar process when I got my GameShark back in my PS1 and PS2 days.

BraveTitan said:
I've seen Macros for almost every game. Everything from simple boosting macros for Fallout/ElderScrolls/Etc. to the complex. A great thing about the macro controller is that you are able to change what every button does! I only say this because you didn't enjoy the Left4Dead layout as you stated. With the Viking Macro controller every button can be remapped to something different offering hundreds of combinations.
Click to expand...
Yes, that too is one thing that worked into my purchase decision. Other macro controllers don't allow for ALL buttons to be programmed. Most just offer extra buttons but leave the stock ones unalterable.

BraveTitan said:
The community and staff here are extremely dedicated. Almost anyone will be willing to help you out if you encounter any sort of problems or want to do a little bit a cooperative macro building. Hope you enjoy your controller!
Click to expand...
I read the forums as a lurker for the past couple days to see what the support and community was like. Another positive for my purchase decision. Few if any trolls. Indicates a solid community.

Buying a $300+ controller isn't just buying a controller. I am investing in a controller, the company and the community. If the latter two are poor, then the product is poor. 9 times out of 10.

I am careful with my cash. $300 isn't big money to me but its money and I spend it wisely. I mean I have $2000 lenses for my camera so $300 for a controller for my xbox isn't off key for me. But I want to get the best product for the money. If it costs a little more to get a good product with solid support, I will go that route over Walmart products with no support.
 
Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
Well, its in the hand of FedEx now so all thats left is waiting :) Wish I could find the software download so I could play with it while the controller is shipping.
 
Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
Crud. FedEx is saying Tues 11/20/2012 7:00 pm. Seriously. I leave work at 5 :(

The package has been sitting in "At destination sort facility, Milwaukee WI" since Friday. Good grief. It took a day and a half to get from Washington to Milwaukee, 1,850 miles. And its sat here since Friday. It only has to get another 10 miles from the sort facility to my work and its gonna take 2 days? Rofl. Apparently they are hiring homeless cripples to hand carry packages across town.

"This is FedEx. You paid for 3 day shipping and dammit, its gonna take 3 days if we have to sit on it for two!"

I really thought they would put it on a local truck this morning after sitting all weekend in the warehouse here.
 
MJ23KB24

MJ23KB24

ModdingBros Leader
Wolfie said:
Crud. FedEx is saying Tues 11/20/2012 7:00 pm. Seriously. I leave work at 5 :(

The package has been sitting in "At destination sort facility, Milwaukee WI" since Friday. Good grief. It took a day and a half to get from Washington to Milwaukee, 1,850 miles. And its sat here since Friday. It only has to get another 10 miles from the sort facility to my work and its gonna take 2 days? Rofl. Apparently they are hiring homeless cripples to hand carry packages across town.

"This is FedEx. You paid for 3 day shipping and dammit, its gonna take 3 days if we have to sit on it for two!"

I really thought they would put it on a local truck this morning after sitting all weekend in the warehouse here.
Click to expand...

Thats pretty ridiculous man I personally like UPS better.
 
Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
Yea, its nuts. I usually ship UPS. If I pay for 3 day, that means it MAY take 3. It may take 1. It doesn't mean it WILL take 3 no matter what.

Noon Thur to 6p Fri (30hrs) - 1850mi
6p Fri -Full Weekend - 9a Tue (40hrs excluding weekend) - 15mi. And it still isn't delivered to my work.

In the 40 hours it took them to get it across town, I can drive from Milwaukee to the Florida panhandle (my home town, max 18hrs usually 12-14), visit a half day and drive back.

If its not here by 5, I am working late. I commute 26mi each way so its stupid to drive back out here an hour later.
-


11/20/2012 - Tuesday

7:26 amOn FedEx vehicle for delivery
WAUKESHA, WI
7:01 amAt local FedEx facility
WAUKESHA, WI
-

11/16/2012 - Friday
5:59 pmAt destination sort facility
MILWAUKEE, WI
4:34 pmDeparted FedEx location
MEMPHIS, TN
12:43 pmArrived at FedEx location
MEMPHIS, TN
-

11/15/2012 - Thursday
6:12 pmAt local FedEx facility
SPOKANE, WA
12:33 pmShipment information sent to FedEx
12:06 pmPicked up
PASCO, WA
 
Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
Woohoo! 13:15 it arrived! And its saweeet lookin! The blue theme with clear blue sticks and blue buttons really looks good.

Question... Does it have to be paired with an xbox before it will power on and be recognized by the PC?

I hooked it up to the pc using the cable and used a couple rechargable AAs I keep in the truck for my camera gear to power it. The ring (all 4) slowly flash red like its wanting to sync up with an xbox even though I powered it using the start button as per the videos. And the software shows "Disconnected". Thought I would fool with it on my lunch break but alas, guess not.
 
Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
NVM, got it. Guess the AAs were not full. Probably used em in a flash and forgot to recharge them. Left the new battery on the CNP cable for a while and once it had a charge, I got the whirly flashing lights for programming and got a "Connected" in the software so all is good for a night of playing. Just hope the granddaughters have lots of homework cus they aren't getting near the xbox tonight ;)
 
ChiCubsFan14

ChiCubsFan14

Member
Just remember that you need fresh batteries in the Macro Controller for it to run at optimum performance. You're gonna love this controller. I'm in your age range and find "computer stuff" challenging. Was sad to learn that you don't like COD, cause I was hoping with your programming skills you could make some new macros for the game. Any way, welcome to the wonderful world of Viking.
 
Wolfie

Wolfie

Member
Yea, I thought the AAs were charged. After letting the battery charge it connected. Ran a fresh battery tonight and have a page of Minecraft duplication macros working. Can glitch copy Iron, Gold, Diamonds and Wood Planks. I set the macros to press to start-press to end so its easy just to let it run.
 
odingalt

odingalt

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Wolfie said:
Yea, its nuts. I usually ship UPS. If I pay for 3 day, that means it MAY take 3. It may take 1. It doesn't mean it WILL take 3 no matter what.
Click to expand...

That's ironic. I have a real problem with UPS here in Central Washington State. Often packages will hit our city hub a day or even two days early. UPS will let the package sit at the service center for two days to make sure they don't delivery early. Even if you call to request local pick-up, the will deny the pick-up until the day after the parcel was originally due to arrive. UPS here in Central Washington are real **** wads! FedEx on the other hand, we've almost grown accustomed to early deliveries here. When I electronically file from a local pick-up, I immediately receive a call from a lady at the local service center confirming my request. I get a second personal phone call from her when the parcel is ready for Pickup. They allows let me do local pick-up the day that the parcel was due. If I call early enough, I can even pick up the parcel in the morning. They are open on Saturdays, including for local pickup. UPS here is not open on Saturdays.

I've also hear horror stories about USPS (and have some of my own). I guess the moral of the story is that service quality from each of the major carriers varies based on region and locale.
 
B

Boricua

Member
odingalt said:
That's ironic. I have a real problem with UPS here in Central Washington State. Often packages will hit our city hub a day or even two days early. UPS will let the package sit at the service center for two days to make sure they don't delivery early. Even if you call to request local pick-up, the will deny the pick-up until the day after the parcel was originally due to arrive. UPS here in Central Washington are real **** wads! FedEx on the other hand, we've almost grown accustomed to early deliveries here. When I electronically file from a local pick-up, I immediately receive a call from a lady at the local service center confirming my request. I get a second personal phone call from her when the parcel is ready for Pickup. They allows let me do local pick-up the day that the parcel was due. If I call early enough, I can even pick up the parcel in the morning. They are open on Saturdays, including for local pickup. UPS here is not open on Saturdays.

I've also hear horror stories about USPS (and have some of my own). I guess the moral of the story is that service quality from each of the major carriers varies based on region and locale.
Click to expand...

I live in University Place, WA. If i drive to where u make the controllers can I get a tour? lol... and can i get clear thump sticks on my controller while im in tour? maybe watch my controller being worked on??... just saying..
 
odingalt

odingalt

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Hey Boricua! We're closed to the public. We're over in Kennewick, WA. Nothing much amazing at our shop. Just a couple of hard-working technicians and a bunch of Microsoft parts all over the place :)
 
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